Bathroom Remodel

A few weeks ago, I had sewage back up into the bathroom, so the already planned new new vinyl flooring in the bathroom became an entire bathroom remodel. I've bought (but not yet installed) a new vanity and top, cabinet, bath tub wall surround, and medicine cabinet. But here's the fun part... the new vinyl is getting installed next weekend, so I was doing some prep work today and found a few issues and need some advice.

Issue #1: The floor was super thick!!!!!
The flooring materials (bottom to top) were as follows: sub floor (standard wood for that), tar paper, particle board, 2" thick layer of grout (no clue why), 1" square ceramic subway tiles (this is the extent of the original constriction). Then cheap vinyl was put down and finally, thin carpet (that's what started this project).

The sub floor is in good shape (mostly due to the tar paper) and will not need any repair. I'll still be left with a 2.25" gap to fill to make the floor meet up with the tiles at the bottom of the wall. At .75" thick, three layers of marine-grade plywood will fill the gap, but before I do that I want to make sure I'm not causing myself more problems down the road.

Issue #2: The plumbing
I've got cast iron plumbing under the toilet. There is a ring around it, but it appears as if the back part has been ground down the ring. We can't figure out how it is supposed to seal. (I may have to get some pictures of that). Anyone have experience with this?

Issue #3: The bathtub
I'm replacing everything else, so I figure I may as well look at the tub. It's an old enamel covered steel or cast iron tub with some chips. It's evident someone's tried to re-enamel it before (there's a pour pattern). I'm definitely getting new fixtures, but as for the tub, the way I see it, I have four options:
A- leave it alone
B- try to re-enamel it again
C- buy and install a new tub (steel with enamel is 109 at Lowes)
D- try a place called Re-Bath. They make a liner to fit the existing tub like a glove (supposedly) and they can do a new wall surround as well (and I can return the one I already bought).

Anyone have experience re-enameling tubs or with a company like re-bath?

Any ideas on the things I mentioned or anything else would be great!

Thanks!!!!!

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Bathroom Remodel

Is there anyway you can find the same tile that they used on your walls and just tile down to the floor when you are done? I dont see why just building it up wouldn't work, but it is going to be a big pain.

I am guessing your house is very old with the cast iron? You need to find a special flange for old cast iron. It is in two peices (maybe 3) But it has a gasket that slides in and then the flange attaches over that and you tighten the gasket , then you just get the wax ring and set the toilet. I think they carry them at HD or Lowes.

Is your tub peeling? Do you know how long ago they epoxed it? If you are going to be renovating the bath already, I would say just replace the tub. I would also suggest that if you plan on being there for any extended period of time you should get a mid grade tub. I just did a bath remodel and I put in a 200 dollar tub. It was not the cheapest, but it came with supports already set to the frame of the tub. Believe me it is worth it, if you do not have those, you need to build up a base to set the tub in. That is no fun at all. If you have any more questions let me know, I just got done with my own and know what its like to run into stuff where you just scratch your head and say "what the ****"

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Bathroom Remodel

Is there anyway you can find the same tile that they used on your walls and just tile down to the floor when you are done?

Is your tub peeling? Do you know how long ago they epoxed it? If you are going to be renovating the bath already, I would say just replace the tub.

I actually have the tile. When they converted the bath to a shower, they ripped the tile off the walls above the tub and tossed them in a box in the storm shelter. When we cleaned out the shelter after buying the house, we found all the tiles, cleaned them up and put them in plastic shoe boxes. I thought about just tiling down the wall, but the only problem with that is that the bottom row of tiles right now, are edging tiles that curve outward at the base. I'd have to pull that row off, which would be extra work.

Today, someone suggested I put down 2x4s on 10-12" centers and lay 3 quarter plywood over that. Any opinions on that?

Thanks for the info on the plumbing, I'll tell my dad about that. As for the age, it was built in the 50s

The tub is not peeling, but it is pitted and the epoxy is thicker in some areas than others and not at all even. I have no clue when it was done (house was a foreclosure property, so history is hard to come by), but they didn't do a great job of it.

Bathroom Remodel

I guess you could do that with 2 by 4s but you really are not saving anytime and i dont like the idea of that in a bathroom, if you ever had a leak you could have pools of water in those voids. I am sure you could do that but I dont think it would cost anymore or take anymore time to just lay plywood.

Bathroom Remodel

Quote:

Originally Posted by bc0604@yahoo.com

I guess you could do that with 2 by 4s but you really are not saving anytime and i dont like the idea of that in a bathroom, if you ever had a leak you could have pools of water in those voids. I am sure you could do that but I dont think it would cost anymore or take anymore time to just lay plywood.

There wouldn't be any pools of water because the knots in the wood for the sub floor have fallen out and it's a crawl space foundation, so the water would go through the floor.